Estimated Cost To Develop A Mobile Application in 2023

With the mobile app industry evolving at a rapid pace, the scope for app development has widened considerably. From the current scenario, there is every reason to believe that 2021 is going to see a breakthrough in the mobile app development industry.  The most asked question by those foraying into this industry is ‘how much does it cost to build a mobile app in 2021’. 

As far as mobile app development is concerned, the cost of developing the app is the second-most important factor, the first one being the UI/UX of the app. The cost of development of the mobile app largely determines its success. Therefore, as we stand in the threshold of the coming New Year, it is worthwhile to estimate the cost for mobile application development in 2021.

Mobile Application Development in 2023 – Important Cost Factors 

The common types of apps that developers build are authentication apps, eCommerce apps, data-driven apps, on-demand apps, marketplace apps, IoT apps, game apps, social network apps, and basic apps, among others.  The development cost of an app does not depend only on the hourly rate and time taken to develop the app but also on several other factors. 

The factors that influence the development cost can be listed as:

• Groundwork

• Technical complexity

• The development team

• Backend development

• OS Support

• The tech stack used

• Third-party integrations required

• UI design aspects

• Expenses after the launch (includes app maintenance, licenses, marketing, updates, etc.)

Different Stages of Development of a Mobile App

Every mobile app sees through different stages during development and each of these contributes to the final cost of the mobile app. 

Consultation: This involves understanding the objectives of the app idea. The consultation is chargeable if it involves a good amount of time and effort.  

Gathering Information: Once the app-building project is taken up, business analysts study the challenges in-depth and the technical and business requirements are enumerated in detail. This service is chargeable to pay the business analysts.

Finalization: This part involves different individuals such as software architects, project managers, technical leads, and designers. Based on the market analysis and the competitor information obtained, the design concept, the architecture, and the UI/UX design are finalized. These provide a clearer picture of the cost elements to be considered. 

Deeper insights into risks: time and costs involved, prioritization of tasks, coordination effort required between the client and the team, etc., are obtained here. The typical charges for the discovery phase would range between 20% and 33% of the app cost for a basic-level app and the time taken for the discovery phase would approximately be a month. 

UI/UX Design: This is crucial for engaging the customer and encouraging them to take action. This is completed before the coding begins. A good UI/UX design ensures seamless navigation between the various parts. The cost of UI/UX design depends on the number of app screens and the level of complexity required. This aspect would make up for 10% - 15% of the app’s cost.

App Development: This is a critical phase where the costs can increase in spite of prior planning. This is because the client may request more complex features to be integrated, thereby increasing the costs. Such complex additions may include audio/video streaming, payment gateways, video processing, app-level editing on content, ML element in the apps, etc. This phase makes up about 45% - 55% of the cost.

App Testing, Feedback, and Deployment: The testing procedure of the front-end of the app costs up to 25%-30% and the admin panel frontend testing is much less and stands at about 10% of the app cost. The deployment costs depend on the server chosen and for data-driven apps, cloud services for data management have to be considered.

Maintenance and Support: The costs for this depend on how many features you plan to add in the future. For iOS and Android apps, there would be a necessity to upgrade into the latest versions that have been released.

Cost and Time estimates for mobile app development in 2021

Mobile Application Development in 2021 - Key Pricing Factors 

The determination of the cost of the mobile app is the one that influences the success of the app to a large extent.  Some of the key factors that add up to cost the mobile app are discussed below.

App Development Team

Different options exist to form an app development team. In-house teams may be more reliable, but may not be cost-effective. Freelancers can be both reliable and cost-effective. However, for a high degree of reliability and cost-effectiveness together, it would be best to hire the services of a reputed mobile app development agency.

Do you have a mobile app idea? contact our business analysts today! 

It is important to select the development team with care. Switching to an agency after working with a freelancer amounts to a fresh start and consequently, additional expenditure. It is also important that the team follows an agile development approach with weekly/fortnightly deliveries. The team would consist of a business analyst, designer (UI/UX), one or more developers, quality assurance expert and a project manager.

Each of the team members has to be paid according to their expertise and experience. Moreover, geographically, professionals in Asia ($10-$75) are paid less hourly rates when compared to the developers from Europe ($20-$150), Australia ($50-$250), or the US ($50-$250) measured in USD. 

App Development Approach -Tech Stack Used

The type of app being is another major cost factor. Native apps (Android or iOS) built for the exclusive use of each of the OS are high-performing and provide the best UX. Cross-platform and Hybrid apps use appropriate technologies like Flutter and React Native frameworks, HTML, CSS, etc. They are cost-effective and easy to develop, suitable for businesses with tight budgets.

Whether Native or Hybrid, the app cost would depend on the hourly rate charged by the developer, the number of screens, complexity, features, etc. Native apps are, however, costlier than cross-platform ones.

Choosing between React Native and Flutter to build Hybrid/Cross-Platform Apps

High-performance mobile apps development in 2021 are predicted to clamber between providing outstanding UI/UX experience and cross-platform compatibility. The React Native framework used has been a top pick since its launch in 2015. It has been used to build multitasking apps with user-friendly screens. 

React Native is specifically used in the following economic contexts:

The developers build modules rapidly using reusable code. Cost of development is therefore reduced. Components such as Render and AppRegistry, among others, can be reused in both Android and iOS platforms. This helps in seamless synchronization of apps. 

Want to build cool a Native/React Native Flutter mobile app in 2021? Get in touch with our team!

App development using React Native brings in a reduction of costs of up to 40 percent of a native app. Typical costs range between 15K and 50K USD.

Flutter is Google’s open-source toolkit that helps app development. Flutter helps to build interactive multi-tasking cross-platform apps on monitors with varying resolutions. Programmers also use widgets that can be fully-customized for building native UIs.

Flutter works best in the below-said circumstances:

Developers use Flutter for building high-performance cross-platform apps that function smoothly like native apps. The time-to-market speed is increased considerably when using Flutter. Flutter apps would typically cost between 15K and 40K USD.

Features and functionality

Once the basic app idea is clear, the variables that affect the pricing would be the features/functionalities that enable the app to stay ahead of others such as the speed of data retrieval, image resolution, security features, search and navigation, push notifications, user feedback facilities, update features, and content flagging. 

Technical Complexity

Launching a mobile app in 2021 is as technically complex as in the previous year.  Some of the factors (with a cost attached to each) are: 

• Backend solutions

• Third-party integrations

• Payment gateway integrations

• Customized designs, animations, etc.

Mobile App Development 2021 – Do not overspend on the App

If you are planning to launch a killer app in the year 2021, with a viable marketing strategy, there is one word of caution – do not splurge on the costs during development stages of the app. Any overpriced app would kill the app even before it takes off.  This necessitates fixing a clear, final price goal for the app. The next step is to engage the right team for developing the app after making a thorough check to determine whether they are suitable for the job. The third step is to choose whether you want to launch a native or cross-platform app. The fourth and final step is to set the correct KPIs for the project. This is best achieved by building a minimum viable product in the starting stage and developing it further through the remaining period of the development phase. 

Mobile App Development at Sayone Technologies

If you have a mobile app idea that you believe would take the world by storm, we can help you. You can start by filling out our Let’s Get Started form and schedule a call/meeting with our consultant/business analyst. 

We then work out the entire specifics of the app development phase to offer you a solution conforming to the budget you have in mind. We give you a preview of the app format along with a discussion on the scope of work that is involved. 

In the next stage, we provide detailed solution procedure along with a formal scope-of-work document.

You can then give us your feedback, suggestions after reviewing the solution details. We then make the necessary changes before preparing the final report for your mobile app project.

Finally, we negotiate to fix the final cost for the mobile app development project. Contact us today!